3/30/2005

To Leave a Message...

I CANNOT STAND the stupid woman instructing me how to leave a voicemail message. I mean – it’s not like the entire “voicemail community” was in shambles before there was a woman to tell them to leave a message after the tone! And what’s with the “for further options, press the pound key” -- What “further” options can there REALLY be? You either leave a message or you don't....
Although these are all very god questions, no question is more bothersome to me than: Who do the phone companies think they are fooling? We all know that these companies put that annoying bitch in there just to prolong the calls so that voicemails can all be over 1 minute. These add up over time which makes us (the consumer) reach our allocated monthly minutes in a quicker fashion....
So what can we do to combat this? Not much, but here are 3 things that could help:

  1. People should know to say on their outgoing message: “Press pound (or star…depending on service provider) to bypass the bitch”
  2. Give up leaving Voicemails altogether and just rely on the fact that someone will see a “missed call” (this is risky as someone may have their phone turned off, etc)
  3. Write your phone company and complain (repeat several hundred times and tell a friend)

For all of my friends out there, I will probably be going with a combination of all of the above. So if I don’t leave a message, please don’t be offended – I am merely trying to beat the system.

3/18/2005

Madness

Yesterday was very tough for me… There were 16 NCAA Tournament games going on (starting at NOON and continuing into the wee hours of the morning) on a THURSDAY. Today – I will go through the same torture… Having to work, while this event is going on is more tortuous then some of the worst stressful days on the typical job….

Thought: You know how most companies have the “2 religious holidays rule” (although most companies don’t promote this) where you are allowed to take 2 days off for religious holidays not included in the typical schedule (in addition to the typical allotted vacation and personal days)... Well, can’t these 2 days go towards that…? I have the same energy towards my work today – as I would had I come into work on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, where we fast until sundown….

I guess if I was REALLY passionate about it I could take 2 of my “personal days” allotted, however, this year that’s not an option…. I’m off all next week – going on a cruise with my family and Amy. So I guess … who I’m I to complain … Peace. I’m out until next week.

3/17/2005

Happy Green Day

...and no, I'm not talking about the band....
I'm talking about the aspect of American culture that has us associate almost every holiday with a color... Whether it's wearing red on Valentine's Day or decorating your house Red, White, and Blue on July 4th, etc. I am all for being festive - but I can't help but think that the ancestors involved in these original days of celebration (or despair) would be satisfied in knowing that the mainstream method of acknowledging this day is by associating it with a color and dressing accordingly. I have no clue as to who "Saint Patrick" was or why we celebrate him - but I do know that I would be doing the socially expected thing by wearing green (and drinking Green beer) on this day in particular. (If anyone knows the real background here - please post a comment)

What I find a bit annoying is when I have co-workers who are far from Irish - approach me today and say "where's your green?" (as if they're disappointed) Again - I'm all for being festive, but don't try and make me feel guilty because all of my green button-downs were dirty...Besides, I'm saving up my "festiveness" for Halloween 2005 (BC are you wit me?)

So that being said - Happy Green Day. Holla!

3/15/2005

Is anonymity a good thing?

Recent events amongst friends has prompted me to think about the concept of being "anonymous." Since the inception of the internet, one of it's biggest consumer selling points has been the ability to participate without a name. Chat rooms and email aliases were the begining - but now we are progressing onto blogs.

In thinking about the POSITIVE attributes of anonymity online - I can truthfully only think of a few:
  • Combat shady marketers from gathering your name and other personal info without permission
  • Minor "piece of mind" that a belief or thought today does not become a documented regret in the future.
In terms of NEGATIVE attributes, there seem to be a bit more powerful points that tip the scale for me:
  • Promotes over-aggresive expression without consequences
  • Promotes mis-representation (think old man in teen chat room)
  • Birth of SPAM (Consider the recent post in Seth Godin's blog (a marketing guru who writes books, etc).
All in all - I'm pretty against anonymity online. If you believe in something - stand by it. Do not give cowards a mechanism to hide.

3/11/2005

Move B*tch, Get Out the way!

Pet peeve #11: When boarding an airplane, there is a very distinct protocol... The first people to board are either "people who need extra assistance," "First-class passengers," or "Elite status frequent fliers"... From there, airlines typically board from the rear of the plane. VERY BASIC!

So why do people who are clearly sitting in the front of the airplane (but not first-class) feel obligated to stand in front of the gate entrance waiting for their rows to be called... It's like the announcer will suddenly get confused with their night-job as a BINGO-caller and start calling out random seat numbers: 11B! 7A! Everyone knows approximately when your row will be called.

So - as the title of this blog states - MOVE BITCH - Get out the way! Wait your turn and stop making it difficult for me and every other passenger on the plane to get our over-sized roller-bags onto the plane before you do... Thank you!